Notes and Notebooks

Develop a routine for taking notes and maintaining notebooks.
There are many ways to record information, each with its
advantages and limitations. The important step for every writer
is to come up with a system that works and that fits into his or
her habits of work. Some people take brief notes in a notebook,
with entries under the situation and date. Others take
preliminary notes and then elaborate in computer files that may
be arranged and subject-coded. Here are some important
principles for note taking:

Devise a consistent approach to note taking. If you like to use
5-by-7-inch cards, then stick to that system for any given
project so that you shape your materials in a consistent
way. If you find it more useful to keep a bound notebook,
then develop your note-taking system in that medium. If you
like the options of a computer note file, then give some
time and effort to setting up a computer note-taking file
system. The important matter here is to have a method so
that you do not get confused later about what system you are
trying to follow.

Record with enough detail to trace your notes to their sources. Be sure that you record
information in sufficient detail and that you identify
the source of your notes. When you travel to the
field, you need to leave with notes that are detailed
enough to be recognizable. That means identifying whom
you spoke with, what items you were examining
(locations, names, references), and the full
publication data of documents you used. If you miss
those details, you may find yourself with valuable
information that you cannot use because you left out
some critical element or you cannot trace the
information to its source.

Use notes to summarize key points. Notes are effective
only when they economize. The three important objects
of note taking are (1) accurately recording important
ideas and facts, (2) reducing sources to manageable
scope (i.e., data reduction), and (3) incorporating
ideas and detail into your own conceptual scheme. A
good set of notes extracts from the source that which
is important to your work. An hour-long meeting should
produce maybe a page of notes or a half-dozen note
cards. An important paper might also produce a page or
a half-dozen cards. The most inefficient note taking
occurs when you try to record every detail.

Systematically read over your notes. Study your notes
regularly so that you have a good concept of the
progress and shortcomings of your research or project.
Notes can help you immensely in maintaining your focus
and thus conserving efforts. They also help you
identify gaps or shortcomings, and they help you
channel your efforts in productive directions. This
familiarity with your notes will be the main source and
support of your writing effort.

Laboratory Notebooks

Keep in mind that even informal kinds of record keeping have
legal status. Any formal project work that is funded should be
accompanied by a record-keeping process. This record keeping
will be the basis of any effort you must make to show that you
performed work according to accepted standards of your field and
in the manner you originally set out to follow.

Laboratory notebooks are a special, legal form of
note taking. A laboratory notebook should be bound and numbered, and you should write
on only one side of each sheet. The notebook should have a front-cover label, and it should
describe the project--dates, personnel, addresses, and project particulars--in more detail on the
first page. A few pages may be left blank for a table of
contents to be entered when the notebook is complete. Each page should be dated and
initialed. Items typically recorded in notebooks include meeting notes, experimental notes,
drawings, timelines, references,
formulae, tables of data,
equipment readings, materials used (grades, vendors,
concentrations). In short, include any item in sufficient detail that it will be useful at some later
date when you are writing a narrative of what you did. One of the most common problems in
laboratory notebooks is that of missing some detail, such as an equipment setting or a calibration
level, that is necessary later to establish the quality, accuracy, and precision of your data. Hence,
it makes sense to subject your notebook to routine review by your colleagues or research director
to determine whether your note taking standard is a good one.